Just got in a new pcb I'd been curious about. Rough Ranger, also called Super Ranger in some regions, is a Rolling Thunder clone by SunA and distributed by Capcom. It's the most thorough Rolling Thunder knock-off I've ever seen, but with a shittier soundtrack. So why play it?

Two player co-op, of course! One thing sorely missing from Namco's classic is two player cooperative play, and Rough Ranger has it.

Initial thoughts... the between stages map is cool, like in Ghosts 'n Goblins. However, in single player, you return to it after each life, and at first, death comes quickly and relentlessly... at least you start where you were and not at the beginning! Thankfully, in two player mode, as long as one player lives, you continue in stride with no break in the action. The goofy helmet-wearing enemies are funny to look at, but they tend to shoot quickly as they pop on screen, so be wary.

Overall, pretty fun stuff so far. Even the animations are directly copied, to the point that it almost feels like a sprite hack of Rolling Thunder instead of a ripoff. If Atari was gonna sue Jeff Mintner for T2K and Capcom sue Data East over Fighter's History, Namco likely would have obliterated SunA in court. The two player mode is where the reason to own this one lies. I mean, what Rolling Thunder fan wouldn't enjoy playing with a buddy?